Saturday, February 21, 2015

We are in a slight warm-up period but are getting a mix of rain and sleet. That means roads will be treachorous. We had planned a WM run but will probably cancel.

I did chores again yesterday morning and it was more uncomfortable at a windy 24° than it was the day before at no wind 10°. I just did the puppies who are little wild things. I stayed in the pen with them and petted them until they finally got over the thrill and settled down to eat. Tito, the large male has very unusual colored eyes. I tried to get a picture but wasn't very successful. The are amber colored. I hope they stay that color as he ages.

As you can see, Daisy decided to eat while Bella (black) is attacking my glove.

DH decided he would do the grain feeding.....I let him.

Cooking

My new bread making technique was using
a biga as a preferment or starter and reducing the yeast. May I say
after one experiment that I am not impressed and once I use the other
half of the biga, will probably not do it again. The biga is
supposed to be improve keeping quality, taste and texture. Well, DH
and I couldn't ascertain an improvement in the taste or the texture.
It also seemed I did not get the volume I usually get. It may be
that I am not really a bread connoisseur just like I am not a wine
connoisseur. I strive for a light, tender bread more like store
bread but better tasting. When I started making bread it was during
the Artisan, no-knead craze and I had tried that but it wasn't what
we wanted. This bread was similar in my opinion. My Sis got me started again (she is going through my
early experimental- bread- making phase now). I will stand firm...no more ventures into bread
that takes between two and 5 days to make while waiting for a
perferment to ripen.........so you true bread making bakers can just
shake your heads. I am hopeless.

2/19/15

It wasn't quite as cold last night,
17°. I love it when it isn't 'leave the water dripping' cold which
for us is l0°. We are in line for some freezing rain later today
and tomorrow.

I fixed something different for
breakfast. I made scones with our scrambled eggs. I have just made
them once before. They are simply a sweetened biscuit with eggs and
cream. I like using the leftovers for shortbread. I will do that
for lunch using our frozen peaches.

Farm

Our farm hand (doesn't that sound
inflated) he is just a 16-year old neighbor. Came and Max showed him
how to use our tractor for feeding the round bales. If the weather
is too severe he can use his truck that is equipped with a bale
spike on the back. He turned his ankle getting off the tractor. I
hope it isn't too bad. I will call and check on him this morning.

I am going out around 9 to do chores
near the house. It was 24° but with wind.

It was more uncomfortable than the day before at l0°. My hands got numb before I was finished.

DH did the grain feeding.

Dragging through the frozen snow requires a rest period when I come in.......

Cooking 2

I decided to make our old-fashioned white bread (no preferment or starter!). I did have to use Hogsdon Mills flour since our local store wanted $6 a bag for King Arthur and I refused to pay that. I may be slightly prejudiced but I don't think I get as much lift with other flours. I added two eggs instead of the called for one. Just did it without thinking because I had two eggs sitting on the counter top from collecting that morning. I like the color and texture and may keep adding two eggs. You know now we don't have to worry about cholesterol in our food ! (did you hear the latest nutritional recommendations?) My Sis and I got a good laugh.....she and I didn't believe that link between foods a cholesterol when they began pushing it.

I had thawed a surprise package from the freezer when it turned out to be strawberries that were past their prime, I decided to make jam. I added l cup of the aforementioned peaches to make the 5 cups. It turned out nicely. The fruit was frozen with l cup of sugar so I reduce the jam recipe by that cup and proceed as usual. I used pectin with this batch.

Note: no lids...yet. In a cleaning frenzy I carried all canning supplies out to the milk parlor (jack of all trades work room). I will retrieve them this morning.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Another very cold morning. No more
snow here but our current snow will be with us for the rest of the
week and longer because we are staying very cold. Today will be the worst yet with very high winds and temperatures dropping to zero tonight.

We may venture out to the local grocery today. My supply of coffee, flour and bacon is getting too low.

We noticed our heavy duty mailbox was
missing yesterday......evidently the road grader clipped it when he
cleared the snow off. I bundled up before time for mail delivery
which is around 10 am and took the hammer out and dug it out of the
ditch. It was frozen to the grassy snow so it took some digging to
get it out. It was a simple fix since it just slides very tightly
onto the arm of the post. I have no memory of installing it that
way.....it seems OK now but I think I will put some longer screws
into the base to actually fasten it to the arm.....or maybe not. I
think it would have broken the cedar arm and maybe the entire post if
it had been fastened down.

I took care of the chickens. They are
just giving us 2 to 4 eggs with this cold weather and I gave a
neighbor two dozen so I am not doing much baking for a while.

DH finished the chores later in the
morning.

The day turned into almost a frenzy of
company.....which is very unusual. I was standing at the sink and
saw our 'visiting' neighbor in the driveway talking with Max (he was
just coming in from the chores on the ATV). I quickly put on a pot
of coffee....but he drove off. I told Max that I expected him in for
coffee and he said, he's coming back soon....so I made Flower Lady's
“Create-a-Cookie” recipe.

I was just taking the last sheet from
the oven when he came back. We sent him home with a bag of warm
cookies for his wife to enjoy too.

Right after he left, our two
neighbor boys showed up to do some fence repair. One is 16 and the
other is 21. The younger one had helped Max feed the day before. We
have made arrangements for them to work for us when the weather is
decent and they have the time.....it will be money well spent if it
means we can keep on 'keeping on' a while longer. We will see how
it works out......I have been wrong before with this kind of thing.
I have known these boys since they were born and they come to check
their cattle right across the road in front of our house daily so
maybe this will benefit us both.

After they left our granddaughter (who
stays with us now and then) called to update me on her life. Things
are going great and school (MU St. Louis) is keeping her busy.

The boys finished in about l.5 hours,
visited for 30 minutes and then left.

Our son called next which is an
occasion in itself! I let him know Mama would appreciate more calls.
He thinks his daughter keeps us up to date.....I told him it wasn't
the same! I doubt it will change his habits....I know I have to
remind my mate to call his Mother more often!

I decided to call my Sis (so she
wouldn't call me after I retired for the night)and we visited about
our new 'preferment' bread making technique.

Monday, February 16, 2015

The weathermen got it right this time. We ended up with about 5 inches and it is 17°.

DH has gone out to milk and I will follow shortly to process it. Willow does so much better with him than with me. I wonder how Jewel (the Jersey) will be when she calves??? Hmm, DH may become the permanent milk person.

I have put on a pot of pinto beans.....done minimal house keeping (tided the bathroom, made the bed and cleaned up breakfast dishes). I vacuumed yesterday. I might squeeze in dusting today.

Gardening

The seeds I planted the l0th are mostly up. I have a full stand of cauliflower and Premium Crop broccoli and another variety of broccoli from some older seeds,

I took a few pictures this morning from the back porch and the kitchen window.

This is looking out the window over the sink to the east:
Male Cardinal is not so red from the back,
I believe this is a juvenile White Crowned Sparrow,
This is an adult White Crowned Sparrow perched in the nandina bush by the window. I noticed the red leaves of the bush were as bright as the red of the Cardinals. You don't notice that so much without the snow cover.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

After several days of fairly warm weather we are headed for the deep freeze. Temperatures near zero and 3-5 inches of snow promised.....The snow is supposed to start tonight and continue on through Monday. I may not venture out.......

I have been keeping a daily journal but much is just ordinary daily life here. I will just do a few days at a time.

Beginning of journal

February 8

Up at 2:45. DH sets up the coffee the
night before but I don't start it until just before he gets up so it
will be fresh.....He was up at 3:00 so I didn't have to wait long.

It is very cloudy out this morning but
also nice and warm. The next few days will be unseasonably warm but
then our cool down once again.

Plans for today: Plant broccoli and
cabbage in trays and put under lights.

Of course, I will have to unload the
plant lights....I still haven't cleaned up that area! I keep
putting it off.

Chickens

Just came back from cleaning out the
nests and giving them fresh water. I noticed fresh poop from some
smaller varmint. I smelled skunk out there yesterday
morning........also a broken shell in a nest.

We will have to keep a close watch on
that situation.

Puppies

I let the puppies out for a little
while. They are getting farther away from the pen but came back
pretty easily. I gave them treats once they were inside. They
played with Sugar a bit. They howl when I leave them in the pen but
not for long.

We checked the freezers before coming
in. I got a package of green beans and peaches and I think
blackberries out. We also found about 8 packages of hamburger left!
Great news; I thought I was out. I will try to make it last until
we butcher the white faced steer.

February 9

Well, I didn't get to the seeds yet. I
went out early and did the chickens which just means I check for
early eggs, check water and feed and decide whether to let them out
or not. Since it was a cloudy cold day, I didn't. They have a nice
long enclosed run so it isn't critical.

No eggs and we just got two for the
entire day....they lay well for several days and then don't for a
couple.

Did the puppies next. I let them out
to roam for a while and won't be doing that again! I finally
corralled one and carried her back to the pen. She was almost too
heavy for me to carry. When I got her locked up they other two came
running. I figured how much they are eating! Between the cats and
the dogs, it is shocking.

House

I noticed the other day that the dining
room window on the west side was extremely dirty with something that
almost looked like spit dried on. I should have cleaned it the day
before when it was nice and warm, but instead did it on the cold windy
day. My hands were numb when finished but I feel better. I walk by
and move the curtain just to appreciate it!

Cooking

I made a recipe of hamburger and hot
dog buns. It turned out OK but the technique is something I will not
repeat......try mixing butter and egg into a finished dough.....not
recommended. Also they are tougher than normal which isn't a good
thing for my husband. The basis was a true French bread recipe which
is probably the reason. I did find they are quite nice toasted (my
breakfast with homemade apple butter) and didn't seem tough to me
anyway. Note: by the second day, the buns were just fine....very strange.

I made hot dogs with homemade fries for lunch.

I had to make an emergency relish so I finely diced onions,sweet pickles and celery and added some mustard and ketchup....worked out fine.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

It is very cold here this morning; 11°.
We have decided to postpone miking until tomorrow when it will be a
whopping 30°.

I haven't posted in a while. Winter
seems pretty unexciting here.

I will list what I can remember in no
particular order:

First Sugar and Mama beagle left and
were gone for two days and nights. We had finally adjusted
ourselves to that when Sugar showed back up alone. We still have no
idea where or what happened to the Beagle. The stingy side of me is
happy I hadn't just paid for a spay surgery on her.

Chores are plugging along in their
normal winter dreariness. DH told me he has only recently tapped into
last summer's hay. That surprised me. We had a good carryover from
the previous year which is a good thing.

The puppies are thriving. I made a
large batch of liver treats for them and they love them. I can see
the hound in them when a treat is dropped and they 'trail' it nose to
the ground until they find it. Sugar doesn't do that nearly so well.

Liver Treats (a good way to use the beef liver we never eat)

Our granddaughter was down for a
weekend last Friday. She had a formal dance to attend as date to
one of her local 'just friend' boys. He is also a best friend of her
BF. Seems kind of strange to us old folks but no one asked our
opinion. She is such a joy and just received all A's from last
semester. She is already a junior in college even though this is just
her second year. Bragging finished!

Cooking

The only thing I have baked lately is
bread (twice since I got the mixer repaired) and two batches of
cookies. I am thinking longingly of cheesecake..........that may be
next.

The mixer worked great making my usual 3 loaf recipe. I added l cup of white whole wheat flour and 1 cup of wheat germ and the texture was still very fine and soft.